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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Mercy killing by Lisa Cutts

Detective Inspector Harry Powell and his team are about to catch the worst kind of case - a case they don't really want to solve. Albie Woodville has been found murdered in his flat, nothing unusual in this day and age, DI Powell and his team see murders all the time - but Albie Woodville was a convicted child sex offender, and no one likes kiddie fiddlers, especially not the police. Determined to be professional and solve the case quickly Powell directs his team to follow up all and any leads, starting with the scarce evidence at the crime scene and spreading to include his victims. Unfortunately there are plenty of potential suspects, especially after the Police released information about his past to Albie's girlfriend and the amateur dramatics society he had joined. As they interview potential suspects and witnesses the team chases any lead that may help them catch the killer or killers - no matter how distasteful that line of query may be for the officers involved. As they get closer to the killer the team has to balance their personal lives with their professional lives and put aside their own feelings to solve the case.As sometimes happens I picked up the sequel to Mercy killing, Buried secrets, and read that first which means that I had a somewhat backwards introduction to the world of East Rise Police Station. Reading Mercy killing was challenging at times because of the theme of child sexual abuse that runs through the novel, but Cutts handled it very well and was realistic about the aftermath without being gratuitous and clichéd. The characters, both Police and civilian, were well developed and interesting, and I found myself caught up in the story and trying to figure out who the killer was from start to finish. I spent the last part of 2017 on something of a British crime spree and the East Rise books were two of my favourite books of the past six months - I enjoyed them because they felt so real and show the personal toll policing can take on the people who protect and serve (to borrow the American phrase). This series is polished and I really wish I had read them in order because it would have made the second book more enjoyable after the introduction to some of the characters in Mercy killing. There are some loose ends at the end, but that is only to be expected because in real life crime isn't always perfectly solved and delivered with a big bow on top.

Hopefully there are more books to come about the East Rise team, because Cutts is a very talented author and her characters are relatable and all to easy to imagine as real people.